This was a richly authentic historical romance. Leela and Hunt are a hot combo!! This story had me getting pretty warm and loving every minute of it!!! This story has a strong lead heroine, racism, aristocracy, sexy scenes galore and I just adored it !!!!

Rich in detail, love, and passion. Sooo good!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the very first page, I knew this was going to be something special. The author really made this a unique story with the lead female not being your standard character.

Not only that, but she also made her a Lady as well. She’s unique and hard-core and absolutely is in love with a one night stand. She just doesn’t know it, yet.

The book was just wonderful from the beginning. Quincey has amazing characters and such a fabulous way of telling her story that I simply couldn’t stop reading. I read the whole thing in one sitting and wanted more!

Classic historical romance with the spice and heat that we love today. Rich in detail, love, and passion!

Interesting and highly developed characters with wonderful supporting characters make this a stunning story that leaves you craving so much more! I will definitely look for more books from Quincy!

I felt very conflicted about this book. I liked some parts of it but yet felt very frustrated with other parts.
The hero, Hugh, a Duke, and heroine, Leela a widowed countess, are on again, off again so many times you can't keep track. I felt their relationship to instantaneous and combustible.
What I did like was the relationship Leela had with her step daughter,Tori. Leela was a very strong determined young
While I liked the characters themselves, the storyline itself was something I just couldn't connect with.
3

VERDICT Quincy (“Rebellious Brides” series) delivers a steamy Regency fraught with family discord as well as societal and racial prejudices. This gripping series starter ultimately triumphs with an honorable hero and a spirited Anglo-Arab heroine who fights for acceptance and love on her own terms.

An enjoyable page turner. This hot, sexy novel will have you fanning yourself. Leela is not your typical Dowager Countess. She is a published author, a woman ahead of her time. She falls in love with Hunt and he with her but there are many, many obstacles to any Happily Ever After. It seems impossible. But perhaps fate will find a way. The author does a very good job of dealing with the racism of the era. We have a strong determined heroine in Leela and an equally determined Hero in Hunt. This is a unique Historical Romance which touches on several deep emotions.

5/5 stars

I absolutely loved this book. This was the first book that I've read by Diana Quincy and now I want to read more. The writing was very good and kept me invested in the book, I never wanted to put it down. I also adored our main character, she was so much better than I thought she would be. Don't even get me started on the romance! Everytime I read an interaction between thoese too I was left swonning just a little, and loved every second of it. I highly recommend everyone picking up a copy of this book.

A few things I enjoyed about this book: the heroine's struggle of being caught between two worlds, her desire for independence, and the discussion of "marrying down" for love. However, for some reason I didn't buy the hero and heroine's insta-love. Insta-lust, maybe, although that also seemed a bit out of character for a woman who had only been with her late husband. I found the stepdaughter conflict to be a bit frustrating, especially because it was hard for me to believe that the duke and countess had actually developed a deep emotional connection after one night together. I did enjoy the story a lot more in the latter half.

She was a widow, bound to no man, finally answerable to no one but herself. It was one night in the middle of nowhere. No one need ever know.

First in the Clandestine Affairs series, Her Night With the Duke introduces us to widowed Delilah (Leela) and almost betrothed Elliot, the Duke of Huntington, as they both take shelter at an Inn. Due to her tawny skin color, the Innkeeper doesn't want to give her a room and the men act less than gentlemanly towards her. With her janbiya, she demonstrates she can take care of herself but Elliot still steps in to offer to share his meal and room with her. As the night goes on, these two can't fight their instant attraction anymore and they both agree to share one night together. However, when true identities get revealed, their one night has dire consequences, in more ways than one.

There was no denying the truth any longer. She felt more than just a physical attraction for the Duke of Huntington.

I am a frequent reader of the Regency sub-genre in romance and I think that hurt my enjoyment of this; characters and lines came off cardboard cut-out and cliche. The beginning conversation between Leela and Elliot felt stilted and with some cheesy lines, I never felt the heat and passion between the two that was supposed to lead to them jumping into the bed right away. Elliot was our Duke who likes strict schedules to prove he is not a wastrel like his late brother and would never want to do anything to cause a scandal; I could never pick him out of a romance genre Regency Duke line-up. Leela was by far the more interesting character. With her English Marquess father marrying an Arab merchant's daughter, she had a more complex background. Leela was raised completely English, her mother didn't want her to acknowledge her Arab side to try and help her fit in better, married at seventeen, and then widowed at twenty-four where she decides to travel in and around Jerusalem to meet her mother's side of the family. While Leela's penchant to use Arabic words and phrases added some much needed character freshness to this sub-genre, I struggled with how it came off forced at times because of how English she was raised and how little time she spent with her mother's family. Leela talks about her travel and we get one scene with her mother's family but I still felt like the fabric of the connection to her Arabic side was missing.

“Some men enjoy flirting with danger.”

The angst in the story comes from Leela and Elliot discovering after their one night together that Leela's step-daughter Tori is who Elliot was planning on becoming betrothed to. Since I didn't feel the lust or heat between them in the beginning, I had trouble feeling the angst and struggle for them to keep apart. Without feeling the emotion between the two, this fell pretty flat for me. Leela and Tori had a good relationship but Tori's stuttered pauses whenever Elliot was in the scene made them drag and Leela's step-son character, from an attempted rapist super-villain to oh was just jealous calmly talking and working together made the character so uneven. Elliot's friend Griff does sound intriguing with society murmuring that he could have killed his parents, some tortured hero angst there.

“Following the rules certainly hasn’t proven satisfactory. Maybe everything in life cannot be tied up into a neat little package.”

This read closer to an Avon Impulse as Leela and Elliot's interactions take place more in the bedroom than anywhere else. About halfway through, Elliot makes a plea for Leela and him to be together but she refuses and the betrothal happens. Even at midway, this felt like a betrayal to the message of how strong the emotion between Leela and Elliot was supposed to be. However, at around 70% our couple gets together and then it feels like the ending was dragged out with some compulsory emotional obstacles that if they'd just sat and had a conversation could have been resolved.

I wish we could have gotten scenes with Leela's brother Alexander (he shows up once), along with more scenes with her dragoman Hashem to explore those emotional connections. Unfortunately, the romance fell flat for me in this, I found myself wanting to read more about Leela on her travels in Arabia. I missed the emotional fabric of why the characters thought and acted like they did, they felt like paper dolls moving from point A to point B. As I mentioned though, new readers to this sub-genre could have a different experience and Leela was an admirable heroine.

This is one romance that I am not quite sure how to rate. I enjoyed reading it, but it was quite uneven. Among the most major issues was the fact that the characters were very scattered in their behavior and motivations. This was another book where it felt like many plot ideas had been thrown together (not uncommon in the genre) and didn't quite get stitched together properly leaving many moments feeling forced or misguided. My biggest issue with it, however, was with the background given to Delilah, which I wanted to like much more than I did in its execution. In the first scenes, the reader is introduced to her in a what unfortunately reads as an exoticized way and her background as a half-Arab English countess seems to shift as needed from that opening scene to the rest of the book as Delilah's, half-Arab raised English nobility, life is established and we learn more about her choice to travel and meet the family her mother had kept her from. The main plot is a one-night stand that becomes complicated when it turns out the two people now have feelings and have been thrown back together and because of prior obligations can't act upon those feelings. This was an excellent conflict set up, but the behavior of our romantic love even though called out for his behavior, didn't really make him seem like he was that much of a catch.

Leelah, a widow, and Elliot, a duke, traveling incognito are stranded at an inn and have a night of passion. Imagine their shock when a few days later they turn up at the same house party for her stepdaughter, Tori. Elliot is Tori’s soon to be arranged fiancé! Great story! I received an ARC from NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for my honest review.

I read this book within a days time. That’s how good this book is. I was drawn towards the pull between Hunter and Leela. What ever they tried to do in order to avoid each other failed. They loved each other. Leela cared for her stepdaughter so much. Hunter couldn’t get past Leela to marry Tori. The writing by the author was a slow pace, but this helped to explain certain things for better understanding to the readers. This is a good romance book to read. I voluntary reviewed this ARC after receiving a free gifted copy. <img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/21abbc6d2f62a80d56d9e8ae6c15dff82ebee8dc" width="80" height="80" alt="25 Book Reviews" title="25 Book Reviews"/>

Excellent! I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this book from the heroine and hero, to the interesting look at different cultures in Regency England, to the "lovers separated" theme, to the secondary characters-everything! Given the current state of the world, I was thrilled that the heroine was part "Arabian" (their word) and part English. (The more the romance world normalizes "love overrides all", the better .)

Clearly, I have to go back and read Quincy's previous works and I'm _really_ looking forward to the next in this series!

Heat - 3.5

Her Night With the Duke is the first in a new series by Diana Quincy. This book is about Lady Delilah Chambers who is on her way and gets stranded in an inn during a bad storm. When she’s attacked by some ruffians a handsome stranger comes to her aid and they spend a night in each other’s arms. Leela thinks it will all be a fond memory until the man she slept with is presented as the future husband of her beloved step-daughter. Her one night of indiscretion is now hard to forget as it stares her in the eye from across the table. What’s a dowager to do?

This is my first book by Quincy and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this story. At first, I didn’t want to read it because some of the forbidden-ness of their love affair just didn’t seem like my cup of tea. I usually prefer to have less angst around the question of being together, but their first night at the inn was hot enough to make up for that worry. I especially loved that this push and pull happened at a house party, where you know anything can happen ;).

Leela is an independent intelligent biracial woman holding her own in regency England. She’s befriended her step-daughter, Victoria since they were close in age and is truly hurting inside as she realizes how much she’s attracted to Victoria’s fiance. Quincy does an excellent job of creating Leela’s character, she discusses the sense of being “other” and having to give up her Arabian culture just to fit in. On top of being biracial, she was also a young bride that failed to produce any heirs. Life in the ton has not been kind to Leela, but she’s persevered.

My issues start with the character of Hunt. He felt like a cardboard cut-out of any old Duke. He was replaceable and forgettable and I had the hardest time believing that any woman would want him for more than his title. The best I can say for Hunt was that he was a very generous lover to Leela. My other issue is that Leela’s character did a lot of rather idiotic things to avoid love and marriage with Hunt. Even when he wants to throw over Victoria for Leela because of his feelings she puts up a fight. These roadblocks seemed contrived and easily settled with an honest conversation, which is why they really began to bother me. Victoria was a good friend to Leela, and I have no doubt that if the truth of her night with Hunt was shared earlier the girl would have been more than happy to call off the wedding for her friend.

However, this book still did have a lot going for it and I enjoyed reading it much more than some other historicals that were on my TBR. I think I’ll definitely be picking up more from this author and I would recommend her to people that enjoy the work of authors like Joana Shupe, Courtney Milan, or Cat Sebastian.

Post live 9/30/20

With romances, I am used to reading about a virgin heroine and a passionate hero - this one was different and I loved it! Leela, is a young widow and her closest friend is her step daughter. After traveling abroad, she seeks refuge at an inn during a storm, where she meets Elliot - dashing, warm and kind - and after a passionate night together, where she finds pleasure for her first time, she later finds out he is courting Leela's step daughter!

Shocked by this outcome, Elliot wants to break of courting Lady Victoria, as he feels for Tori's stepmother instead. Leela wants Tori happy but how does she avoid Elliot and the chemistry between them?

Lots of surprises in this story and I really enjoyed it, I am looking forward to the next book!

ElliotTownsend, the Duke of Huntington, the previous Duke his older brother was a wastrel, drunk, and a womanizer. His brother had died and Hunt was able to bring the estate up to snuff. But he was very conservative, hated scandal, and did not particularly care for the ton. He had chosen Lady Victoria Devon as his bride to be. This was his mindset when on a stormy night in an awful inn he met Leela a beautiful, intelligent, and sensual woman. They had an immediate attraction. Leela was actually Lady Delilah Devon. Her father was a marquess as was her brother.
I Loved this story, watching them go back and forth. Should she marry him but she felt society would make their lives miserable, she could not do it to him. They were so in tune with each other, She was born in England but her
mother was born in the Middle East but the marquess, her father, adored her. A well-written tale that flowed smoothly, easy to read, and keeps on the edge of your seat You never know which one is going to run this time. I
hope there is another novel, this was very entertaining.
I received this ARC from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.

What a HOT MESS! Leela/Lady Devon truly is “fierce, fiery and brilliant” as described in the synopsis! She is true to herself and loyal to those she loves. She is independent and strong in a way unlike most heroines. (Just ask her step-son)!

Elliott/Hunt/Duke of Huntington gets a crash course in women from Leela, Tori (his almost betrothed) and from his mistress. I appreciated his loyalty once he met Leela, but he had a lot to learn along the road to his and Leela’s HEA.

I loved the way Leela and Hunt circled each other throughout the book as they tried to be loyal and not be together, but do as ‘society’ expected of them. Ms. Quincy well explained Leela’s heritage and how it should keep them apart and almost did. Great romance and very well written!

This was my first Diana Quincy novel, and I really enjoyed it. Leela is a fierce heroine, and I absolutely loved her introduction at the inn. I pretty much instantly shipped her and Hunt. Hunt surprised me with his rich character development over the course of the novel. Leela shines from page one, and that remains throughout the book.

I'd recommend this for fans of historical romance and am looking forward to reading more by Quincy.

Just a wonderful read. The plot is somewhat familiar, a torrid one-night encounter at an inn, and the shocking revelation the next day that the heroine has slept with the likely fiancé of her stepdaughter. He behaved abominably, since he was on the way to propose marriage. She, on the other hand, was footloose and fancy free. Yet both act honorably from that point on, seeking to do the right thing despite their own happiness.
Leela — Delilah Chambers, the Dowager Countess of Devon — is a unique heroine, daughter of the Mad Marquis and an Arab mother, she is caught between worlds. She resolves society's disdain by creating her own world, traveling, writing popular travel books and separating herself from her late husband's family. Her stepson can't stand her (because he is attracted to her) and she is only back at her old home to lend support to a beloved stepdaughter, Victoria.
It is Victoria to whom the Duke of Huntington is as good as pledged; he meets Leela at an inn, with both stuck because of bad weather. She has taken out a trusty night to stop ruffians and he comes to her aid. It is one of the best meet-cutes ever. She is strong, smart, sassy and very nearly invincible. Until she spends one night with Hunt, or Elliot Townsend as she first knew him. He and Lady Victoria continue on their way to their inevitable union, despite the sizzling attraction between duke and dowager. How that near-disaster of a marriage is avoided is just one twist in this rollicking book. You will not be able to put it down. (I reviewed an ARC from NetGalley. Opinions mine.)

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion.
Diana Quincy is a new-to-me author, but I will definitely be reading more of her books.
Her Night with the Duke opens when the Duke of Huntington (Hunt) and Delilah, Countess of Devon(Leela)find themselves stranded in a seedy inn during a downpour and the sparks between them lead to a steamy night together. Neither of them realizes the other's true identity(he a duke, she a widowed countess), which leads to complications when they get to their common destination and find out that Hunt's soon-to-be fiancee is Leela's stepdaughter Tori.
I found the characters, particularly the women, to be complex, fleshed out, and believable. I especially liked the relationship between Leela and her stepdaughter Tori. Leela's background as a woman of English/Arab heritage and her strong calling as a writer of well-received travel books highlights the way she has burnished her independence and melded her two worlds.
The chemistry between Leela and Hunt is scorching, but her need for independence and his need for respectability, not to mention the conflict about Tori, creates an intriguing and ultimately satisfying story.

Her Night with the Duke by Diana Quincy is the first in a new series titled: Clandestine Affairs. This is a wonderful historical romance that kept me entertained from beginning to end. I have to admit that this is my first book that I have read by this author, and she has most definitely made me a fan.

I loved Leela and Hunt. The chemistry was there, and their interactions before they found of who one another really was, and thereafter during their "predicament" was excellent. I loved Leela as a character best of all. She was smart, independent, no nonsense, stubborn, bold, likeable, and a good person over all. She experienced many obstacles and adversities growing up, so one can completely understand her hesitancies and hang-ups. However, I am glad that she was able to adjust those prejudices as the story went on. I enjoy dynamic, complex, and wonderfully written characters. It seems it is hard to find those types of characters and also like them at the same time. Ms. Quincy most certainly accomplished that goal for me. Fellow readers will love this story. It is so much more then what I was expecting.

I loved the plot, the obstacles placed in front of the characters, and the changes/growth that occurred during their journeys. I also enjoyed the ending and can't wait to see another character from this excellent cast staring in the next installment.

I can't wait to read more from this series, and from this author. I highly recommend.


5/5 stars

Thank you to NG and Avon/HarperCollins for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.